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On March 15, 1493, Christopher Columbus returned to Spain after his first voyage to the New World. The 2 C’s could be considered to be Christopher Columbus, the explorer renowned for “discovering” North America and many other places in the New World. But, according to many, there are two other significant C’s in America — Coffee and Chocolate!

And the two are linked by more than just alliteration. When Christopher Columbus first sailed that ocean blue (as the rhyme goes) in 1492, he traveled to the so-called New World at the behest of the Queen of Spain. And two of the precious items he brought back to Europe? You guessed it: coffee and cacao beans.

Here’s a lowdown on some of the history that links Christopher Columbus with two of the Americas’ favorite treats — coffee and chocolate:

The introduction of coffee beans to the Americas is often attributed to Columbus, as it is thought that he carried coffee beans on one of his voyages to the New World.

Columbus is also often credited with bringing chocolate, by way of cacao beans, back to Europe and then on to the rest of the world.

Columbus is believed to have “discovered” cocoa beans in around 1502, when he and his crew appropriated the cargo of a native Mayan trading ship, near what is now known as Honduras.

Apparently Columbus assumed that the beans were some kind of almond. But, sensing the value placed upon these mysterious legumes, he took them.

So, what lesson can we take from this? Well, one thing’s for sure. We’d like to thank Columbus for that initial transportation of the magical beans behind coffee and chocolate. We guess we have him to thank, in a round-about way, for one of our favorite products — the Cafe Mocha. And we can bet he would have been a big fan of one of the best — the BrewKup™ in Chocolate Almond.

The Ganoderma lucidium mushroom, so prized by Chinese herbalists, is unique in that grows in wooden trees or logs. Some Ganoderma is harvested using plastic bags which mean that the mushroom’s precious spores cannot effectively propagate, making plastic bag-harvested Ganoderma much less potent.

At Rae’s Cafe, we’re proud of Organo Gold’s natural, organic growing methods and all-natural processing practices. They partnered with some of the most reputable people in the world to produce our Ganoderma lucidum powder.

Here’s a breakdown of how we take these fantastic-looking mushrooms and turn them into an almost magical, potent and wonderfully beneficial powder:

First, OG’s Ganoderma mushrooms are grown undisturbed on maple logs high in the Wuyi Mountains of China’s Fuxhou region. It’s cold and deeply forested up there, and these miraculous mushrooms thrive.

Once harvested, their partners at the $240 million Gano Herb Industrial Park process the mushrooms. The agriculture and food scientists at OG’s state-of-the-art facility use cutting-edge technologies, techniques and equipment to gently dry, sterilize and process the mushrooms, transforming the tough, wood-like caps into a fine powder.

OG’s expert team then carefully transforms the mushroom stems and caps into a fine powder, which is then easily added to our coffee, tea, and other beverage products, as well as personal care products.

OG packages and ships all beverage, personal care and nutraceutical products to our partners and distributors in more than 30 countries across the globe.

Let’s crunch the numbers: An estimated 120 to 150 million cups of coffee are consumed every day across the USA, at an average rate of 1.6 cups per man and 1.6 cups per woman over the age of 18. No doubt, one or two of them are consumed in or around your household.

Now imagine the 10 to 15 minutes it takes you to either:

Fix the cup yourself at home using your: drip brew coffee machine; espresso machine; French press; or other DIY coffee method of choice; add a few additional minutes if you grind your own beans at home (for the time it takes using and washing the grinder).

Stand in line at your local coffee shop or cafe.

On average – whether it’s prepping coffee at home or buying it to-go – that’s around 12 minutes per cup, per day. This doesn’t seem like much in the grand scheme of things, but let’s add that up and look at the bigger picture. The average prep time for six days a week of just one coffee per day, breaks down to 12 minutes per cup. Multiply that by 312 days a year and that’s a grand total of 3,744minutes per year, or, roughly 62 hours or about two-and-a-half (2.6 to be exact) days a year just preparing coffee.

Now imagine what else you could do in that time? Two-and-a-half days could be spent enjoying a lovely vacation — perhaps in a ski lodge, or at a resort on a sunny tropical island, if that’s more your style. Or you could read a book. Or write a short story. Or see multiple movies. Or take in your favorite sporting event, in person or live via broadcast television.

Time is valuable in today’s busy, multi-tasking society. For many of us, time is money. So wasted time means wasted money. What if you could save those 62 hours?

In honor of the Coffee Connoisseur Club, here are our six top tips on using the Cafe’s coffee, mocha and tea products to help literally save you time and money, and make your life simpler, more efficient, and possibly even happier. And who doesn’t want to be happier?

Gourmet Cafe Supremenot only has the light and creamy flavor of a $5 store-bought latte, it has added benefits. Namely, it is enhanced with two powerful ingredients: 100% pure Ganoderma extract; plus the prized ancient ingredient of Panax Ginseng root.

With Gourmet Café Latte, a light, creamy latte is at your fingertips in an instant — minus the wait in line.

Guilty of a sweet tooth and tend to crave a sugary pick-me-up in the middle of the afternoon? We have the answer— Gourmet Café Mocha. This instant product offers a rich, cocoa-tinged coffee that’s ideal for a mid-afternoon pick-me-up.

Prefer a chilled beverage on those hot summer days and nights? Try an instant cup of Black Ice— a naturally invigorating iced black tea that has already been sweetened with pure, natural honey and enhanced with Ganoderma extract and Amazonian Guarana, to revive your body and mind.